A Case for Digital Displays in Building Lobbies

How many apartment buildings, condo towers, and office complexes have you walked into during the course of your lifetime? Probably too many to count. Do you remember the lobbies of any of them? Can you recall what decorated the walls? Most property owners spend millions to decorate lobbies with art of varying degrees of quality in order to attract tenants and make a statement. But the truth is, most lobby décor is completely forgettable after several “passes by” – it simply becomes invisible. That is of course unless it changes regularly, perhaps dynamically based on the engagement, time of day or a set schedule of events.

At NanoLumens we have a client in a major metropolitan city that manages high-rise buildings. In this particular example, the building managed was more than a million square feet in size and only 50% occupied; so the owners of the building decided to renovate the lobby. In the redesign, they chose to install a large video wall. Right away, there was a difference in the way people perceived the building. The numbers showed a major increase in foot traffic into the lobby, as pedestrians would walk in off the street to take a break from the elements and take in a few minutes of news or sports from the video wall.

Over the next few months, the tenant occupancy began to increase as well. And during the next couple of years, the building’s occupancy rate rose to a whopping 90%. This was great news for the owners, as this building had struggled in years past. What we find to be the most interesting is that the only thing that had changed, was the renovation to the lobby with the inclusion of the video wall. And, according to the building manager, not only did the occupancy rate go up, but the type of tenant changed as well. The building started to attract a more high-tech type of clientele, equating in large part to the success to the video wall and the way it changed the appearance of the lobby.

Fast forward a bit, and this same building was sold and the building manager was asked to move to a new acquisition within his property group. This new building was built in 1964, is 42 stories tall and 1.1 million square feet in size – and only 25% occupied. That’s not to say the building didn’t have anything going for it. It was an old financial building in a great part of town and adjacent to the city’s park. But, the building needed a face-lift, and the decision was made to spend eight million dollars to renovate the lobby and two of the upper floors.

When the owner of the building discussed the upcoming renovation with the building manager, the manager suggested the owner add a video wall to the lobby. It took a bit of convincing, but the owner decided to eschew traditional lobby art and put in a giant video wall. His reasoning? When asked if he could describe the expensive art from the buildings visited in the last week, he simply could not.

At NanoLumens, we design visualization solutions and we can transition those eloquent murals right onto your display, creating art. Or perhaps a gallery that changes at your whim, we can bring you the news, weather, social media or even interactivity for your employee’s work day. Our displays are also smart devices, but at any time – they can simply be art.

This renovated building opened just recently to rave reviews, we cannot wait to hear how the tenant rate grows. To check out more about NanoLumens corporate display solutions, please click here.